THE Museum of Contemporary Art & Planning Exhibition (MOCAPE), the latest cultural landmark of Shenzhen, opened to the public Dec. 28, 2017 with the “Forty Years of Sculpture” exhibition.

MOCAPE is part of the master plan for Futian’s cultural center, which houses Shenzhen Concert Hall, Shenzhen Library, Shenzhen Book City CBD Store and Shenzhen Museum in adjacent areas. The project combines two independent yet structurally unified institutions: the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) and the Planning Exhibition (PE) as a cultural meeting point and a venue for architectural exhibitions. The lobby, multifunctional exhibition halls, auditorium, conference rooms and service areas will be used jointly.

Located in the northeast corner of Shenzhen Civic Center, MOCAPE covers an area of about 30,000 square meters with a total construction area of about 90,000 square meters. It was designed by Coop Himmelblau, the internationally renowned Austrian architecture team, and fully constructed by the end of 2016.

Inspired by three-dimensional Chinese gardens, circular lines and torsional boulders, the museum will serve as an important carrier for the dissemination, inheritance and construction of contemporary and urban culture in Shenzhen.

The “Forty Years of Sculpture” is a display of China’s reform and opening up for 40 years in the form of sculpture.

The exhibition was organized by Sheng Wei and Kang Xueru. The exhibition is divided into four parts, each part showcasing classic works from the era through the use of flashback narrative. On the one hand, it summarizes the achievements and developmental hallmarks of contemporary sculpture in the past 40 years, and on the other hand, it explores the latest developments and possibilities of Chinese sculpture for the future.

The “Tian Shixin Sculpture Exhibition” is being displayed at the same time. Tian’s creations and works are influential in the circles of art and academy as well as the public. His exhibition summarizes his past achievements and studies and is being showcased in four units based on timelines and themes. (A Ding)